West Africa · Sahel

Hausa

Harshen Hausa

The trade language of the Sahel, carried along the trans-Saharan routes by the Hausa city-states of Kano, Katsina and Zaria — and still written in Ajami as well as Latin script.

Family: Afro-Asiatic (Chadic)
Script: Latin (Boko) and Arabic (Ajami)
Speakers: ~90 million speakers including second-language users
Spoken in: Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Cameroon, Chad

The course

Five units, one word at a time

0/5 mastered

Unit 1

Greetings

Sahelian greetings are unhurried and ask after everyone at home.

Sannu — Hello
Ina kwana? — Good morning (how did you sleep?)
Ina wuni? — Good afternoon
Lafiya lau — I'm well / all is well
Na gode — Thank you
Sai anjima — See you later

Unit 2

People and family

The household words.

Mutum — Person
Uwa — Mother
Uba — Father
Yaro — Boy / child
Yarinya — Girl
Aboki — Friend

Unit 3

Numbers one to ten

The counting you will hear in any Kano market.

Daya — One
Biyu — Two
Uku — Three
Hudu — Four
Biyar — Five
Goma — Ten

Unit 4

Food and the market

Kasuwa Hausa — the language of the marketplace.

Ruwa — Water
Abinci — Food
Kasuwa — Market
Nawa ne? — How much is it?
Ina so — I want
Yayi tsada — It is expensive

Unit 5

Everyday phrases

Getting help, saying sorry, finding your way.

Don Allah — Please (literally: for God's sake)
Eh — Yes
A'a — No
Ina? — Where?
Ban gane ba — I don't understand
Yi hakuri — Sorry / be patient

How to sound right

Hausa is tonal, with high, low and falling tones.
Hooked letters ɓ, ɗ and ƙ are separate sounds made with a catch in the throat.
Sannu is the all-purpose greeting; the reply is Sannu kadai or simply Sannu.

The audio button in lessons uses your device's speech engine, which rarely has a native African voice. Treat it as a rough guide and trust the written pronunciation hints and the coach instead.